Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Many, many people have written in asking why we have to pay just to enter a station. They argue that it's a ripoff to swipe the farecard and then have to pay the minimum fare if, say, there's a major delay and they decide it's quicker to get to their destination by exiting the system immediately to walk or get a cab instead of dealing with MetroMess.

Here's WMATA's answer:

Metro uses a two point fare system, you swipe your card when you enter and again when you leave. It is expected that when you enter the system you do so with the intent of going someplace other than where you started, and we collect the fare accordingly. We also have in place a policy that states if a major delay or incident happens, the General Manager has the authority to invoke our “Zero Fare Policy” which allows customers to leave the system from the same station they enter at with no fare charged. (Board notification is required every time this is enacted as it violates our tariff)

Now, image you and a friend (Internet, Craig’s list) both ride every day. You get on at Vienna and travel to Metro Center and your friend conveniently gets on at Metro Center and travels to Vienna. You determine that if you meet at, let’s say Rosslyn, he gives you his fare card and you give him your fare card, you would both have fare cards showing you leaving from the same station you entered and…

Or...wait...metro has computers that can tell what time you entered the system. How about this: if you exit the same station with 10 minutes of when you boarded you pay nothing.

Ten minutes is about long enough during most major delays to determine whether or not you're going to stick with the train or not. And, even during "regular" train functioning, it's not long enough to do anything inside the system (as if there were anything to do but ride around) and get anywhere.

Since the fare increases were enacted, I have noticed that there have been delays every single day.

One hopes that - eventually (perhaps in a few years) - the increases could help reduce these malfunctions. But since the justification for the fare increases was a giant budget shortfall, I have no faith Metro is in a position to improve anything... rather, their priority, astoundingly, seems to be to stop things from getting worse. Which they haven't done a great job of thus far.

Oh, Metro. You are like a younger sibling addicted to crack. I want to love you but you make it so *#!%&*%( hard.

To be fair, every time there's been some sort of delay and I've decided to leave the station, I've simply asked the station manager and they let me go out the side gate. Next time I'm getting on (at the same station), I let them know what happened and they let me go through the side gate as well. When I get to my final destination and swipe, the system either lets me through or tells me to see the station manager (where they either let me go through free or ask me where I came from).

I've done this around 4 times this year and never had any issues. Though maybe I've just had good luck with station managers.

In the modern computer driven world a 15 minute opt out is a real option, but scams are easier than a meet in the middle and trade of cards. I know a guy who used to go to a particular deli most days for lunch. He would swipe his card in at the station by our office and then Metro to the station by the deli and hop over the unattended gate at an elevator. He would get his lunch and hop back over the gate and go back to work. He would then exit back out at the original station with a one way minimum fare. Two expensive rides for the cost of one cheap one. He also had the gall to be pissed when he got busted twice by the Transit Cops in one month.

Typical Metro response - they explain a policy that would allow them to avoid charging, so they can sound as if they are reasonable, but the policy is so onerous that it is essentially impossible to implement (Board Notification? How about the Line Manager?)

The fast lane slide is great (watch the video)- but too much fun for Metro, perhaps the only organization less inclined toward fun than the Germans!

Here is a scam for Metro to consider. Buy two smarttrip cards. Scan one in Rockville during peak of peak of peak hours. Ride to National Airport Metro and attempt to use the other card you have not scanned, the manager will not know what to do and will let you out of the side gate. Use the same card to reenter National Airport Metro after work, but use the card you used in Rockville that morning when you arrive in Rockville. The manager will try to figure out where you went and since you are honest an honest person by nature, you say, "Twinbook".

I agree that it sucks that the Metro uses the two fare system. I think that Anonymous 10:01 has the right idea with the 10 minute fare limit. But sometimes there is no way out of paying the fare. Instead of sneakily trying to beat the system, I looked into pre tax commuter benefits at http://www.commuternation.com/dc I can save up to 40% on my commuting costs. It’s worth a look!

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